UNGA: SOUTH KOREAN PERM REP ON POSSIBLE NEW SC

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000978

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2018
TAGS: PREL EFIN SENV UNSC UNGA IN BR PK IT JP GM
SUBJECT: UNGA: SOUTH KOREAN PERM REP ON POSSIBLE NEW SC

REFORM STRATEGY, G-20 SUMMIT AND SYG'S PLANS, AND RIO 20
CONFERENCE

REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 960

B. USUN NEW YORK 902

Classified By: Ambassador Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador Park told Ambassador Khalilzad
October 24 that the Indian Perm Rep may send a letter to the
UN General Assembly President (PGA) pressing for a compromise
start date of mid-December for UN Security Council reform
intergovernmental negotiations. Park and Khalilzad agreed
they would both press the PGA to abide by the "spirit" of the
compromise decision (62/557) and not start the negotiations
before February. Park said the Uniting for Consensus (UFC)
bloc concluded it needs to adjust its Security Council reform
platform to attract new members in order to be a credible
counterweight to the Group of Four (G-4) when intergovernment
negotiations commence. Proposals include longer-term members
who can seek re-election and a specific two-year rotating
seat specifically for small, island, or land-locked states.
Ambassador Khalilzad responded that re-electable, longer-term
members could be an interesting idea and said he would convey
the proposal back to Washington. Park recounted his recent
conversation with Secretary General Ban, who will be away
from the UN during the October 30 Interactive Panel on the
Global Financial Crisis, but is planning to host an informal
plenary briefing followed by a discussion during the period
November 6-11 to collect input from the membership for Ban's
participation in the G-20 Summit. Park reiterated Korea's
interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012 (ref
B) to which Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he had not
heard back from Washington on the proposal. End summary.

UN Security Council reform
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador Park thanked Ambassador Khalilzad in an
October 24 bilateral meeting for his first-hand involvement
in pressing the UN General Assembly President (PGA) to not
accelerate the timeline for the start of Security Council
reform intergovernmental negotiations (ref A). Park relayed
that, according to the Italian Ambassador, the Indian Perm
Rep may be planning to send a letter to the PGA asking for a
compromise start date for intergovernmental negotiations in
mid-December. Both Ambassadors Park and Khalilzad agreed
they would be "vigilant" in pressing the PGA to abide by
"spirit" of the September 15 compromise decision (62/557).


3. (C) Ambassador Park said that the Uniting for Consensus
(UFC) bloc has concluded that it cannot "survive" with its
previous platform of only supporting an expansion of
non-permanent seats and is, therefore, considering modifying
its platform to emphasize interim measures. Park said the
UFC hoped to attract one-third of the membership and be a
credible block to the Group of Four (G-4),giving the UFC
some negotiating weight for the phase of intergovernmental
negotiations. One proposal under consideration would be for
longer-term members (length of term still under discussion)
who can seek re-election. He said there would be no
specification as to which countries would get these
longer-term seats. They would be open to competition and
therefore available to emerging powers. Park stressed,
however, that Korea remained opposed to an expansion of
permanent members. By Korea's calculation, such a proposal
in favor of longer-term and re-electable members could prove
attractive to 15-20 emerging powers who might be willing to
join their bloc. Also under consideration, he said, is a
proposal to set aside a regular two-year non-permanent
rotating seat or seats specifically for small, island, or
land-locked states who are not normally able to compete for a
seat in a regional group. He provided the example of Bhutan
and the Solomon Islands in the Asia Group. Ambassador Park
requested U.S. feedback on these proposals.


4. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad responded that the U.S. has
generally not weighed in on the idea of a specific seat or
seats for small, island, or land-locked states since we think
regional seats afford them the opportuntiy for
representation. Our focus on reform has been how to
accomodate the emerging powers. Our concern about
longer-term memberships has been that it might encourage
irresponsible behavior from those in permanent campaign mode
for re-election. Ambassador Khalilzad said he would convey



the proposals back to Washington for review and would be in
touch with Washington's response.

G-20 Summit and role of the UN
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador Park said he had spoken to Secretary
General Ban who confirmed that he would be away from the UN
during the PGA's October 30 Interactive Panel on the Global
Financial Crisis but that Ban had met with a group of
prominent economists October 23 and would meet October 24
with the heads of the Bretton Woods institutions. According
to Park, Ban is planning to host an informal plenary briefing
followed by discussion during the period November 6-11, so
that Ban can collect input from the membership to convey to
the G-20 Summit. Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he has
advocated for the Secretary General to be given an
opportunity to speak at the G-20 Summit. Ambassador Park
relayed that the French Ambassador had heard that the PGA may
try to introduce a GA resolution to influence the G-20
deliberations. Ambassador Khalilzad said that we would be
closely monitoring the PGA to head off such an initiative.


Rio 20 Conference
--------------


6. (C) Ambassador Park followed up on his October 1
discussion with Ambassador McMahan (ref B) about Korea's
interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012. He
reiterated that it is the right time for Asia to host such a
stock-taking conference and said that the G-77 was pushing
for such an event. Park suggested that a resolution be
adopted calling for a world conference in 2012. Afterwards
the decision can be made on which country should host.
Ambassador Khalilzad said he had not heard back from
Washington about Korean's proposal but would press for a
reply.
Khalilzad